The final list – ’50 fabulous things to do @ 50.’

With a lot of editing, mainly because of moments of changing mind, my list is finally finished. I have devised a list of 50 fabulous things to do @ 50 as a tribute to being 50. It should stop me pondering on just how old I am!

The list outlines a whole heap of things that I have wanted to tackle for years. I can’t guarantee that all 50 will bee achieved in the coming year but I will give it my best shot. I can be quite driven in such things after all I managed to post a blog a day for a year back in 2013!

It is rather dependant on my health and as fibromyalgia is so unpredictable I will just need to stay chilled about the challenge and just assure myself that I will complete all 50 challenges regardless of how long it takes.

I am embracing being 50. I have researched widely to see other people’s ideas but they are full of places to visit and I am not that way inclined. I have found my place in the world and I feel blessed to live here. I have no burning desire to visit lots of places but you will see the Isle of Skye and the Orkney Isles on the list.

My list is dominated by learning new things and that is what defines me. I breathe in and out because of my family and my love of learning. Learning has always played a massive part in my life so it seems sensible to include lots of new things to learn in my list. I have never understood the concept of boredom and I have never had any problems motivating myself. I think I must be one lucky girl.

As I am also taking part in a collective frugal living challenge with a bunch of equally bonkers people I am including some of that work in my list. My Grandmother kept two purses in her bag. The first one (red if I remember correctly) held the money for food and essentials for the week. The second purse (black and I do remember correctly) was for the little luxuries in life. Pete and I worked incredibly hard to be debt free by the age of 50 so now the attention turns to saving. We are already underway with saving bank accounts but I am more interested in the surplus money on a weekly basis and what happens to it. So for 2015 I am going to run my Grandmother’s dual purse system and see where that takes me…..

If I am honest my interest in the past within the context of my own family has been pretty much limited to my Grandmother whom I adored. In recent months I have become more interested in other members of the family so I intend to do a little internet digging and see where that takes me. This has probably been provoked by my work as part of Project Poppy.

This list is beyond my day job which involves writing for a Celtic collective of writers and running my own website and e-course portfolio. My day job also involves teaching my own children as we continue our home schooling journey. I can hear you all screaming that I will need more than 24 hours in a day to complete this list and you may well be right. I know you are right but you can’t blame a girl for trying.

When I was at university I dated a lovely young man and we still send a Christmas e-mail which is a nice wee tradition. I remember the time I spent in his company so well because he was the most capable person I had known to date. I used to suffer terribly from jealously wishing that I was as capable as he was. Some years after our relationship finished the penny dropped that he was so capable because he was always learning new things. Back in the day that meant reading lots of books and I am quite sure he still does that. Nowadays the Internet offers us much although I still read lots of books as well. Every day I study my dharma but everyday I know I could do more so you will find that on my list as well. Maintaining and extending my commitment to Buddhism seems really important just at this time in my life.

Anyway here is my list. If you read it you will probably understand me quite well. I would be really interested in hearing your plans for 2015 and whatever they are I wish you well with them. When 2015 seeps into our consciousness let us all embrace it as I predict it is going to be a very shiny year indeed.

Blessings to you in 2015.

50 fabulous things to do @ 50

Sponsor a Pakistani child’s education

Produce a limited edition range of reclaimed art

Submit a piece of art to the island art show

Take part of the Arran Open Studio Event

Write and publish first e-book entitled ‘Incubation for the soul’

Give my kitchen a complete vintage makeover

Get a piece off journalistic writing published in a popular magazine

Launch the Bobbin Collective E-shop & website

Launch the With Love from Arran E-shop with Giggling Hedgehogs

Begin a seed saving & swapping scheme on the island

Design and make a ‘wreath making’ garden with plants that can be dried

Write a letter to a different friend once a week for a year

Find a pen pal scheme to join

Produce a limited range of craft packs to sell in community shop

Run a fairy garden project for children as part of the fun week using reclaimed materials.

Make a photographic journal book for each of my children

Learn how to bake soda bread

Visit the Isle of Skye

Visit the Orkney Isles

Write a children’s book and illustrate with fabric appliqué art

Go to church once in a while – I like the quiet reflection it offers

Do a short Buddhist retreat or course

Set aside smaller income streams for ‘slowing down fund’

Establish my Grandma’s two purse budgeting strategy

Make more chutneys and jams for the larder

Make a limited edition dream catcher range using our own willow and vintage linens

Screen print my own ‘seeds’ collection of cotton shopping bags for sale in Community shop

Get back into the swimming pool more regularly

Run craft workshops through the summer from my garden studio

Establish a storage system for my beach finds

Design and make a wreath collection using our own willow and beach finds to sell in the community shop

Take a photograph a day for my flickr account

Finish cat blankets for Cat Protection branch on Arran

Design and make limited edition of vintage postage stamp thank you cards

Begin researching the Vernon and Stevenson Family trees

Restore Grandma’s quilts

Grow mushrooms

Plant apple trees

Rewrite Scottish island mum website

Learn more about the Celtic calendar and apply it to my life

Make new cushions for my sitting room

Make a range of lino printed gift cards to sell online

Learn to knit warm socks because my feet are always cold

Taste blue cheese and learn to cook with it – this could be a very big ask!

Finish my novel

Design and make a range of cat toys with the boys to sell in the community shop